Meanwhile, the rain had stopped by the time Jake left the diner, but the streets of the slums were still slick with puddles.
Jake pulled his coat tighter and walked toward the tram stop, then he weaved through different vendors shouting the prices of whatever they were selling.
He also noticed children darting between stalls and he could perceive the sweet scent of fried bread mixed with the rusty smell of metal but he was used to all these by now so he simply focused on where he was heading to.
Upon arriving at his destination, Jake heard the tram screeching as it came to a halt.
Unlike what would be seen in the better regions of the city, the tram in the slums really looked battered and old, but it definitely still looked functional.
Anyways, Jake stepped in and swiped his chipped commuter card to gain entry before sitting down on a spot close to the window.
Here, he could see the outside view as the tram rattled forward and passed the stacked apartment blocks.
Jake could see their balconies strung with different laundries and he could see different rusted pipes clung to the walls with water dripping into the gutter.
His eyes also noticed the cats prowling along the rooftops as the tram climbed a slope leading to the hospital district.
Jake hated it here.
But it wasn't the hospital that he hated.
He simply didn't like coming here because every time he did, it reminded him of what had happened not only six years ago, but also what happened ten years ago.
Ten years ago, while Jake was still ten years old, a mana rift had appeared out of nowhere.
It was the first of its kind and it came with chaos and destruction, which was something no one could have ever predicted.
Magical beasts and demonic creatures burst out of the rift and they wrecked havoc on the city, killing everyone and everything they laid their eyes on.
Thousands of people died on that day but it wasn't the monsters alone who killed them.
Some died due to the wild and unstable mana that had flowed out of the rift while others grew ill and have been unable to recover ever since.
A few people gained magical abilities and enhanced strengths, thanks to their bodies adapting to the amount of wild mana in them, but most times wild mana was known to cause sickness, mutation and insanity.
Jane was one of the few people whose gene had mutated to become the demi-human she was right now but the same couldn't be said about Alice who got affected by a new mana rift that appeared six years ago.
However, unlike her sister who was exposed to only a little bit of wild mana ten years ago, Alice got affected by a large amount of it and it greatly affected her nervous system, allowing her to experience reoccurring seizures that threatened to take her life.
Seeing this, Jane swiftly brought Alice to the hospital but the doctors informed Jane and Jake that Alice's seizures would only worsen if something wasn't done in time and that Alice could even suffer from hallucination and memory loss, along with the risk of the unstable mana in her blood morphing into spikes that could kill her from the inside.
These news came as a shock to both Jane and Jake, and it's the reason why Jane had been so hardworking these past few months.
'Sighs' Jake sighed sadly as he recalled the day all these happened and the frown on his face deepened even more.
He tried not to think too much about the past because it only made him unhappy, but then he noticed the tram slowing down to a halt.
The tram's brakes squealed and Jake stepped out into the hospital district.
Looking around, he noticed how quiet the streets were.
It was unlike the other streets in the slums, and as he strolled along the streets, Jake could already smell the faint scent of antiseptic in the air and it made him feel uncomfortable.
But still, he kept walking towards his destination until he spots a small grey building with cracked walls.
The entrance of the hospital had no glass doors but it had a pair of rusted frames covered by a heavy curtain to keep the rain out.
Jake stepped in and immediately noticed how warm it was on the inside compared to how cold it was outside.
He noticed a nurse behind a desk and she glanced at him but didn't say anything.
She recognized his face cause she was used to seeing him here, so she knew who he had come to visit.
Since Jake had been coming here for years, he was used to seeing her face as well but he swiftly drifted his gaze towards the narrow hall in front of him.
His boots echoed against the tiles and he noticed how the paints of the interior walls seemed to be peeling in several parts of the wards, showing how old the hospital was.
When he reached Room 6, Jake stopped and took a deep breath.
He just stood in front of the entrance and stared at the metal door in front of him before preparing his mind to step in.
He calmed his nerves and slowly pushed the door open to see Alice lying on her bed with her head turned toward the window.
Her silver colored hair was long and beautiful as the pale rays of sunlight filtered into her room, to make her even more mesmerizing.
"Good morning beautiful, you miss me?"
A beautiful smile appeared on Alice's face and she had indeed been missing him before hearing his voice right now.
She swiftly turned around to greet him as well and Jake watched as she closed the book on her lap before placing it on her bedside table, then Alice turned towards him once again, only to be shocked by the bruises and cuts plastered on his face.